​There are many people in the religious world who believe that we can determine approximately when Jesus will come the second time because (as they believe) the New Testament teaches there will be signs of the times. Is it true that God’s word teaches that specific signs will signal the second coming of Christ?

The answer is no! It is a false doctrine that flatly contradicts the Lord’s word. The New Testament teaches in no uncertain terms that no human being knows when the Lord will come back the second time! There will be no signs of the times.

Some think Matthew 24 teaches that there will be signs indicating when Jesus will return. They are wrong! Matthew 24 contains the words of Jesus to the disciples about the destruction of Jerusalem, not the destruction of the universe. Those who misuse Matthew 24 and apply it to the second coming are teaching falsely. They are perverting sacred scripture.

Paul said, “But as to times and seasons, brothers and sisters, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves know well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night, when people say, ‘There is peace and security’, then sudden destruction will come on them like birth pains on a pregnant woman and there will be no escape” 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3. Paul plainly says the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night! What is the comparison to a thief in the night? As we do not know when a thief in the night is coming, in the same manner we do not know when the day of the Lord is coming! There will be no signs! Those who say there will be signs are wrong!

The same truth about the Lord’s coming is taught in 2 Peter 3:10. The text says, “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief and then the heavens will pass away with a roar.” Note the phrase “like a thief”. It is the same as found in 1 Thessalonians, in both places it indicates the unannounced character of the coming. No human being knows when it will be because there are no signs of the times. The concept of signs of the times is a false teaching that fuels the excitement of people who read but do not study the Bible.